Vijender refuses samples to test for illicit drugs

NEW DELHI (AP) - Indian Olympic boxer Vijender Singh has refused to provide blood and hair samples to establish whether he used illicit drugs linked to a police investigation of more than $25 million in heroin confiscated from an international criminal network.

Senior Punjab Police officer Hardyal Singh Mann said in a statement Monday night that India's bronze-medal winning boxer did not consent to a forensic examination that could have established whether he used drugs.

Police questioned Vijender after sparring partner Ram Singh claimed the pair had used drugs bought from the people arrested in the drugs haul on several occasions.

Ram has been expelled from the National Institute of Sports in the northern city of Patiala.

Vijender was the only Indian boxer to medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.